478 NAVAHO HOUSES [ETH. ANN. 17 
The valleys to which reference has been made are the Chinlee on the 
west and the Chaco on the east of the principal mountain range 
described. Both run nearly due north, and the former has a fall of 
about 2,000 feet from the divide, near the southern reservation line, to the 
northern boundary, a distance of about 85 miles. Chaco valley heads 
farther south and discharges into San Juan river within the reserva- 
tion. It has less fall than the Chinlee. Both valleys are shown on 
the maps as occupied by rivers, but the rivers materialize only after 
heavy rains; at all other times there is only a dry, sandy channel. 
Chaco “river,” which heads in the continental divide, carries more 
water than the Chelly, which occupies Chinlee valley, and is more 
often found to contain a little water. The valleys have a general alti- 
tude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea. 
The base of the mountain range has an average breadth of only 12 
or 15 miles, and it is a pronounced impediment to east-and-west com- 
munication. It is probably on this account that the Navaho are 
divided into two principal bands, under different leaders. Those of 
one band seldom travel in the territory of the other. The Navaho of 
the west, formerly commanded by old Ganamucho (uow deceased), 
have all the advantages in regard to location, and on the whole are a 
finer body of men than those of the east. 
On the west the mountains break down into Chinlee valley by a 
gradual slope—near the summit quite steep, then running out into 
table-lands and long foothills. This region is perhaps the most desir- 
able on the reservation, and is thickly inhabited. On the east the 
mountains descend by almost a single slope to the edge of the approxi- 
mately flat Chaco valley. In afew rods the traveler passes from the 
comparatively fertile mountain region into the flat, extremely arid val- 
ley country, and in 50 or 60 miles’ travel after leaving the mountains he 
will not find wood enough to make his camp fire, nor, unless he moves 
rapidly, water enough to carry his horses over the intervening distance, 
Throughout the whole region great scarcity of water prevails; in the 
large valleys during most of the year there is none, and it is only in 
the mountain districts that there is a permanent supply; but there life 
is almost impossible during the winter. This condition has had much 
to do with the migratory habits of the people, or rather with their fre- 
quent moving from place to place; for they are not a nomadic people as 
the term is usually employed. This is one of the reasons why the Nay- 
aho have no fixed habitations. 
San Juan river forms a short section of the northeastern boundary 
of the Navaho country, and this is practically the only perennial stream 
to which they have access. It is of little use to them, however, as 
there are no tributaries from the southern or reservation side, other 
than the Chaco and Chelly “‘rivers,” which are really merely drainage 
channels and are dry during most of the year. The eastern slope of 
the mountain range gives rise to no streams, and the foot of the range 
